Nicole King – Summer In The City

As much as I appreciate Starlight, what it does for our city and the artists and tourists that it brings, I personally find myself looking forward to the summer concerts organised at the Bullring in Nueva Andalucia, now known as Marbella Arena.  This year my highlight to start off the summer was the Jacksons concert organised by Rock Lounge, supported once again this year by the Hard Rock Hotel.

Perhaps the coordinators would have loved to have sold more tickets but for those of us who were there, particularly with children, it was perfect! The whole evening was one extended heartfelt moment, actually singing and dancing with the Jackson brothers.   Surprisingly for me even my daughter appreciated the significance of the moment.   As always we had our seats in the ring area, as opposed to the upper levels, so we can have freedom of movement to dance and get to the bar!  We certainly were right “in it” from the get go with the warm up act, Ray Lewis, former lead singer of The Drifters, who came off stage to perform amidst the crowd.  He also waved, beamed and sang directly to my granddaughter, visibly delighted at having a five-year-old amongst his enthusiastic audience and she was delighted to have had such recognition; adding more magic to the moment.

The Jacksons were more than one could have hoped for and had the entire stadium doing our snazzy dance moves to some of their most emblematic chart toppers.

A family night out at a concert is my yearly reminder that it’s summer and it’s not all just about work, we need to get out and play too.  It’s also a reminder as to how lucky I am to live in a country where children are always welcome and where a whole family can go to a great concert together for honest, down to earth, family fun.

It’s important that our children get to experience and participate in our lives which is much easier in Spain than most other countries.

A more usual spot to hang with our kids is a sports club.  Those of you who play padel may have already “clocked” the new installations at the Nueva Alcantara Club (NAC) but what you might not know is that the restaurant area has now been taken over by the owners of “Breathe”.   This latest culinary contribution is “Soul” and the new hip place to be in San Pedro where you can spend quality time.  Once again they’ve nailed the décor: very five star, very chic and yet very welcoming, with contributions to reforestation included in the pricing structure as part of the “Carbon Free Dining initiative”.

The options of where to go and what to do are boundless, it’s more a question of “where do I start”?  If you’ve got some good ideas, please let me know and perhaps I’ll see you there!!

Happy August xox